. in ten days, under current law, tax rates are scheduled to rise on most americans. >> even though democrats and republicans are arguing about whether those rates should go up for the wealthiest individuals, all of us-- every single one of us-- agrees that tax rates shouldn't go up for the other 98% of americans. >> reporter: the president met with harry reid at the white house and spoke with house speaker john boehner. mr. obama said lawmakers need a break from fiscal cliff frustration-- much of it self- induced. >> we move forward together or we don't move forward at all so as we leave town for a few days to be with our families for the holidays, i hope it gives everybody some perspective. >> reporter: the president will follow his own advice. lawmakers and return to washington if there is a deal. >> pelley: major, thank you. as you know, this debate is all about bringing the federal budget under control. if the white house and congress can't figure it out, big across- the-board budget cuts and those tax increases we mentioned kick in automatically january 1. the so-called fiscal

. apart from the fiscal cliff febate, some other laws are due to expire january 1, and that could cost americans plenty. ar starters, the payroll tax break will end. illial security taxes will go from 4.2% back to 6.2%. if the farm bill is allowed to expire, it is feared milk prices could rise sharply. hundreds of american families famiheartbroken tonight after russian president vladimir putin banned all adoption of russian children by americans. it is believed to be retaliation for a new u.s. law that targets human rights abuses in russia. in the past two decades, more , mo 60,000 russian children have been given new homes inside the u.s. it elaine quijano met one family whose adoption is now on hold. >> look at this. look. >> reporter: two years ago kim and robert summers decided to adopt from russia. it took nearly 18 months, but last july, the couple was matched with a 15-month-old boy. enen you saw his picture for the first time, what did you think? k i knew that this was the child i was meant to parent. and i took one look at this little ginger boy, and i fell in love with him. >

wondering what's become of that. >> reporter: jim, that new law has made a big difference, and the key provision is the requirement that drug manufacturers let the f.d.a. know when there's an impending shortage. since that new law has passed, there has been a doubling of the notifications. the f.d.a. can increase imports from abroad and tell other manufacturers in the united states to step up production. so it's made a big difference. now, another provision in that law is that the f.d.a. set up a task force looking at other possible solutions to the drug shortage crisis, and they're required to submit that report to congress by this coming july. >> axelrod: dr. jon lapook, thank you. china now has the longest high- speed train line in the world. it runs 1,400 miles from beijing to the city of guangjo, about the distance from new york to miami. the chinese train can make the trip in eight hours. it would take amtrak 30 hours. in los angeles, people lined up to turn in their guns. find out why when we come back. ♪ aww man. [ male announcer ] returns are easy with free pickup from the u

years under the obama administration may hold for gun laws." an instructor at nova firearms re falls church, virginia, where hey nearly sold out of a.r.-15s and high-capacity magazines after newtown. so, ironically, this shooting is a.spiring more people to buy this gun, the a.r.-15, and these mgh-round magazines. >> if i could, i would give ynator feinstein and the president "salesman of the year" awards. s treporter: senator feinstein plans to introduce her bill to ban the sale or manufacture of assault weapons on the first day of the new congress in january. jim, that's expected to trigger unother flurry of gun buying. >> chip reid in washington, thank you. police in newtown got a break today. officers from nearby communities worked the shifts there so that the newtown p.d. could have ingsstmas off. it's been 11 days since the shootings. tiny christmas stockings with the names of the victims are hanging near sandy hook t allntary. a candlelight vigil is scheduled to last all day today. h6 candles-- one for each victim shot at the school. volunteers are taking three-hour shifts to